Deception
by Jasmine-N-Leaves
Summary: "He's being charged with murdering his girlfriend." Gibbs said "Girlfriend?" Sanders and Brooks asked, shocked. My OC, Brooks, arrives at NCIS and immediately finds herself mixed up in one of their cases when she recognises the suspect. Along the way, unexpected links to two other NCIS agents are revealed. Part 2 of 4, sequel to Stalemate. Rated T just to be safe.
1. Washington Meetings

Washington Meetings

 _A/N: I know that DiNozzo has left the team to look after his daughter, but as I have not seen anything since then, I am having Toress as being away to give evidence on a trial on a former case before he joined Team Gibbs. (Also, I have no idea who he is or where he came from, so I'm making it up a little.) DiNozzo is visiting and helps out a little. He now trains would-be agents at FLETC. He's still going to need money and savings would only get him so far._

 _A/N2: Aaaaand finally, apologies for the lengthy delay in the second part of the story. For those who have stuck with me, thank you. For those who have not read the previous instalment of this (hopefully) four part story 'Stalemate', it's not essential, but it might help explain a couple of things._

* * *

 _This part is the last chapter of Stalemate._

"Well done, Agent Callen." Director Vance said two days later as he finished hearing the lead agent give him a verbal summery of what was in the reports that would be coming in over the next few days. "You'll be pleased to know that none of the operations or contracts McAllen was privy to military wise have been affected. Those that have, are adjusting their timetables or operations. And as for Tash's investigation, not a single person on his list escaped, and every one of them were on watch lists. Some of them are talking, some aren't, but we're getting enough information to find more people and eliminate more threats that the SSgt's unit hadn't found yet."

"Thank you, director." Callen said. "If it hadn't been for Miss Brooks, we might not have been able to do any of this."

Vance noticed something cross Callen's face at the mention of the woman, but it was gone so fast, it might not have been there at all. "Any word on how she's doing?"

"The hospital released her yesterday morning. She's going to be fine. She sent a copy of her report to Hetty, so you'll be getting one alone with the rest of ours."

Again, Vance saw a flash of something. Wondering what it was, yet knowing that Callen wouldn't tell him anyway, he nodded and said his goodbyes before cutting the connection.

He looked up from the computer at the woman in front of him. She sat with her three (almost four)-year-old son, playing on the couch, colouring in a book. Gizelle Brooks looked up as he finished and headed over to him. "He's trying not to show it, but I think he's still trying to wrap his head around it. He know about Michael?" He said to the young woman.

"It's a lot to take in, believe me I know, and no, he doesn't. One thing at a time." She said as she sat, taking a drink of the now semi-warm coffee, shaking her head as though she herself couldn't wrap her head around it any more than Callen. "To find out that the man you've been compared to your entire career is your father. It would be a lot for anybody."

* * *

Washington Meetings

Down in the bullpen, twenty minutes later, Former Very Special Agent Tony DiNozzo looked up from some paperwork for his daughter that NCIS needed signing as a little person leant against the corner of his desk.

"You want a lolly?" The kid asked, holding out a packet toward him.

Tony did a little bit of a double take at the sudden arrival of the kid. He had short sandy blonde hair that might turn brown, blue eyes that seemed to change in the light, a jacket supporting the Rangers baseball team hanging off his small frame and looked to be around three or four years old. Wondering where he came from, he reached out and dug into the bag. "Thank you. You know, they're called candies." He said as he pulled a couple from the packet. Huh, candy bears. He thought as he squeezed them before popping one into his mouth.

"Lollies." The young man said, rather insistently.

Tony adopted a kind look, hoping to have the kid change his mind. "Candies."

"Lollies!"

"You know, I think I've had this conversation before." He said suddenly looking at the kid, a thoughtful look on his face.

"You have, with his mother. And I think we agreed to call them…" She didn't get to finish as Tony stood as he remembered her.

"Jelly Bear?" He could feel the shock on his face but didn't care. The last time he had seen her was when he had been a cop in Baltimore in the late nineties. She was just a kid, no more than eleven or twelve years old, and had helped him get evidence for a case and had disappeared shortly after it wrapped up. He had been unable to find her since as he didn't know her name.

"Detective DiNozzo, or should I say Agent." She held out her hand to him. "Gizelle Brooks, Interpol."

Tony didn't care at that moment what the rest of the bullpen thought of him as he suddenly hugged her. He had looked for her for weeks after she had vanished. "I thought one of the guys that escaped had killed you."

"I'm harder to kill than you think, Anthony." She said as she hugged him back. Gizelle had no idea that the agent had carried that fear around with him for so long. "I got lucky and someone took me under their wing just as that case wrapped up. They looked after me."

They pulled apart and spoke for a couple of minutes. Tony looked at the changes time had wrought on her. Her hair had darkened, her eyes aged. Lines had appeared on her face, some from laughter, others from sorrow. He spied the beginnings of a scar on her collar bone before the peach coloured, long sleeve, Armani shirt and light blue coat hid the rest; clearly her life was a hard one. He told her he was no longer an agent, of his daughter and asked about what she had done after leaving the area and what she had done with her life. She answered most of his questions, skilfully avoiding or changing the conversation if she didn't want to. She asked about his girl and he was about to ask her and her son, who's name had yet to be mentioned, over when she noticed that her son was no longer next to her.

"Michael?" She called out. "Michael Oliver Renko Jr! Get your butt back here!"

Everybody in the bullpen froze and silence filled the open area as her voice whipped around the room as only an angry mother's can. A moment later, Michael was held aloft by someone in the room.

"Here I am Mommy!" The boy cried out happily, waving his arms merrily as the man brought him over on his shoulders.

NCIS:NICS:NICS

Gibbs had been on his way back from the head when something small had crashed into him at knee height. Managing to keep on his feet, he looked down and saw a three-year-old boy sitting where he had landed, candies from the bag he had been holding scattered around. Crouching down, he was prepared to stem the flow of tears when the little guy looked up. He jumped to his feet and had his hands balled up into little fists in a flash. As Gibbs reached out to see if he was ok, a little fist darted out and hit him on the nose. He fell on his ass in shock and once his eyes cleared from the sudden tears, he saw the kid still there, fists ready.

"Whoa there kid, I'm one of the good guys." He said as he reached for his badge, thinking that the kid may not know where he was. "Here, see?" He handed the kid his ID, shiny badge showing. He was surprised when the boy flipped it to show his information.

" S" the boy said the letters then sounded them out. "Gibbs. Gibbs!" The boy's face lit up in recognition, yet Gibbs was sure that he had never met the lad. "My mummy said I can trust you. So did Mr Vance." He handed the ID back as he spoke.

"And where is your Mommy?" He asked as he regained his crouch.

At that, the little tyke looked around and realising that he couldn't see her because of the height of the dividers, started to tear up. Until a shout reverberated around the room.

"Michael Oliver Renko Jr! Get your butt back here!"

"There she is!" He said happily.

Gibbs held out his hands and the boy, Michael, held his arms up to allow him the grab him under the arms, the candies forgotten. "Here I am Mummy!" He yelled, waving his arms madly, "And look who I found." He nodded to a nearby agent to get the sweets cleared up.

Gibbs placed the kid on his shoulders as he headed over, wondering who she was, and what she was doing that the kid knew the Director. She looked to be in her early thirties, Caucasian with chocolate coloured hair that was pulled into a ponytail. It flowed past her shoulders in natural waves that many women would spend hundreds of dollars to replicate. As she turned, he noticed that her naturally tanned face framed eyes that were a piercing blue.

"Hello, Agent Gibbs, Gizelle Brooks, Interpol."

"Mike Renko?" He asked as he handed the kid back to his mother. He noted the Australian accent.

A shadow crossed her face. "Yeah, I didn't know until weeks after his … When I found out I was having a boy, it fitted."

While looking at her son, she missed the look passed between the two men. "The team in LA know?" Gibbs asked, knowing how upset they were when both he and Hunter had been killed.

"No." The voice indicated that no one was to tell them. "I plan to head back in a month or so, so maybe then."

At that moment, the elevator dinged. No one took any notice, until the door opened and voices floated out.

"I'm telling you, I didn't do anything. What am I supposed to have done?" A male voice floated out, upset, confused and angry. He looked to be around 35, had light brown hair in a crew cut, with jeans and a camo jacket. As he turned to look from one to the other of the two agents holding him, a pale red button down could be seen.

"We told you at the house, you're under arrest for …" Agent Timothy McGee never finished his sentence as the man noticed the woman talking to Gibbs.

"Brooks?! What's going on? Tell them I didn't do anything."

"Lt Sanders?"

The room was suddenly full of people yelling as Brooks headed over to the trio, demanding to know what was going on. McGee and Ellie Bishop shouting at Sanders and Brooks, trying to get her to identify herself.

Brooks had handed Michael to DiNozzo before she went over and now the kid was starting to get scared at all the yelling, if him covering his ears was anything to go by. Gibbs saw everything was about to go fubar, so he did something about it.

A whistle split the air, causing everyone to fall silent.

Looking pointedly at Brooks, he turned to the rest of his team. "Take him to interrogation. Ah," he held a hand up to Brooks as she was about to speak, "While they're doing that, you're going to tell me how you know him."

"Only if you tell me why he's been arrested." Brooks took Michael back from DiNozzo and held him on her hip, brushing a couple of tears away while calming him down by rubbing his back.

"He's being charged with murdering his girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?" Both Sanders and Brooks asked, shocked.

* * *

AN: I'm basing Michael's age from the show dates. The month before Renko died is when I'm basing he was conceived. So therefore, he was born early the following year. I loved this character and the actor so this is my way of keeping him alive. For more info on the kid, you'll just have to wait until the forth part.


	2. Gathering Information

_A/N: I forgot to put this on the first chapter, I don't own the characters of NCIS. It also occurred to me that I had this set in January, which is winter in America. It's summer here in Oz at the time, so I had to re-write a few things. I may have to go back and add a few thing to Stalemate too. Keep an eye out._

* * *

Gathering Information

 _Previously on NCIS_

 _"He's been charged with murdering his girlfriend."_

 _"Girlfriend?" Both Sanders and Brooks asked, shocked._

During the moment of confusion, Gibbs tipped his head toward the interrogation rooms. "Now," once the younger pair of agents headed off, Gibbs turned back to Brooks, "Your turn."

Brooks looked to the lead agent a moment before turning to the child on her hip. After asking if he was ok, she told him to head back to the director's office and wait for her. "When was TOD?" She asked as she watched her son climb up the stairs.

Gibbs paused a moment, sensing that there was a reason to her not answering his question. He headed back to his desk, and when he saw that she wasn't following, beckoned her over with his finger. "Come on." He caught Tony nodding and leading her toward the screen the team used for briefings. He nodded to Tony to start.

While Toress was away they had caught the case. Tony had been visiting from FLTEC and ended up doing a couple of searches for them. He had been temporarily reinstated while the other man was away. And he was not going out into the field. Gibbs wanted no bullet related excuses delaying the man's return home to his second Goddaughter.

"Base security at Pax River got called to Lt Sanders house yesterday morning from his commanding officer as he noticed a suspicious smell coming from it. When they arrived, this is what they found." DiNozzo hit the clicker and a series of photos slid onto it. A body was draped over the back of a couch, legs on the seats, upper torso and arms hanging down the back of the couch. Decomp was in such a state that much of the flesh had rotted before the cold of the winter had stopped the process. The only way to tell the sex of the deceased was by the long black hair that was splayed around the woman's head, flowing over her arms. It had been brushed out in a circle around her.

"Captain Sines, Sanders CO said he hadn't heard from the Lt in a few days …" he paused a moment when she scoffed. When no response was forthcoming, Tony continued, "and he went over to check on him. He said the woman had been with him a few months but added that there had been arguments heard. When we contacted the base, the Base CO said that Sanders had been out of the country for several weeks. And didn't know when he would return. We got lucky and found him on a flight that landed this morning. We set up surveillance and nabbed him as he got home."

"Anything you'd like to add?" Gibbs spoke then from behind his desk.

Brooks looked a moment at the photo. With the rate of decomp, it was hard to tell who it had been. She then pulled out her phone and sent off a text. "Three things. One, he just got back this morning from a three month mission in Dubai. Two, I'd take a closer look at Captain Sines if I was you; he was well aware that Sanders was away and would be for months; and three that's not his girlfriend, Sanders is gay. The woman is most likely the Lt's cousin." At that moment, her phone chimed and she nodded.

"Most of the men he's been on assignment with the past few weeks will be landing tomorrow. I just asked the others in the unit why I was seeing Sanders at the base. He took an earlier flight that landed today because he hasn't heard from his cousin in a couple of weeks. I've asked them to come straight here once their flight lands, which will be mid-morning tomorrow, but I've not told them why. While you're waiting for them, you might as well start with me. After that, I will be joining you on this case."

DiNozzo looked aghast at Gizelle when she suggested that. He could understand why. Nobody asked to join team Gibbs. He thought about that before telling DiNozzo to take her up to the conference room.

"Are you nuts?" Tony asked as they headed up to the room.

"Maybe, but I know a hell of a lot more about the man than his Captain. Also, I need to be kept in the loop in case this has something to do with the investigation I've been working on for Interpol, a case that those men have been a part of."

Gibbs watched as his former 2IC led the woman up to the conference room. Shaking his head at the strange turn of events, he headed in the direction of the elevators and the morgue. He entered the room with a whish of the door, and nearly gagged at the stench. They had to wait for the body to defrost which meant that the decomp had started up again.

"This reminds me of a case I worked once, back in, ohhh, 1984 I think it was." Doctor Donald Mallard, otherwise known as Ducky, filled the room with a story as he worked with Jimmy Palmer. Ducky was typing his report on the computer as his assistant cleaned an examination table, his back to the door. No doubt he hadn't heard Gibbs' arrival due to his story telling.

"Pretty thing she had been too. She had taken to eating everything that was cooked on the television shows she watched. She sat on her couch for almost two weeks before she died."

"But, Dr, if she was eating, how did she die?" Palmer paused in his cleaning as he looked over at the older man's back.

"Turns out she suffered from a disorder that tricked her brain into thinking that she had already eaten. Because she was watching other people eat, her brain thought she had too. Like I said, Mr Palmer, she sat on the couch for many days, and that was all she did, another part of the disorder." He spun the chair around then and was about to, no doubt, go into greater detail about the disorder, but he spotted Gibbs. "Ah, Jethro, I was wondering when you would be making your way down here." He stood and pulled a few sheets of paper as they exited the printer.

"What have you got for me, Duck?" He had waited until the autopsy had been completed before heading down. He didn't think he could handle the smell in the confines of the room, no matter how good the extraction fans were. As it was, the smell still lingered.

"Well, the body is that of a woman, around 5'6, 90lb. Judging by the teeth, and other indicators, I'd put her age to be around late twenties to mid-thirties. Never had kids, not even so much as a broken bone before her death. I've sent the dental records off for a formal ID."

"TOD, cause?" He asked, looking over the file, even though his old friend would tell him.

"The exact date is tricky, given the almost frozen nature of the body, but based on the fact that there haven't been temperatures over 35 Degrees Fahrenheit since late November, I'd say about two months ago. There was a mild heat wave in the middle of November that lasted two weeks, most unusual as it got up to around 85. As to the cause," he turned and headed toward a light box and turned it on. A couple of x-ray images appeared, showing the neck of the victim. "Her neck was broken." He pointed to a couple of spots. "Here, you see?"

"It looks like it was snapped by bending it back." Gibbs said as he noticed the unusual placing of several of the bones. While he hadn't snapped many necks, he had seen the damage on many victims, and noticed the inconsistency.

"Yes, Mr Palmer noticed it while he was taking them. It takes a lot more force to break a neck in such a manner, not only that, but the person doing it had to be much taller to be able to do it."

"Or they had the victim in a position that allowed them to get enough height on them." Gibbs said as he remembered how she had been left on the couch.

"How we found her, yes, I was thinking the same thing. We found evidence of a bruise in the middle of her back on her spinal column, consistent with someone placing a knee there to hold her in position." He took the folder from Gibbs and leafed through it a moment to find the page he wanted before handing it back. He pointed out the markings he noted on the drawing of a body.

Gibbs could see that several markings had been found, many around the facial area, meaning that she had been beaten before death. He also noticed that there were a few marks around the hands areas. Reading the accompanying information, he saw the marks indicated broken bones.

"She fought back?" He asked, pointing them out.

"Yes, and from what I can tell, very hard. She has a couple of bruises and hairline fractures on her arms and lower legs consistent with martial arts manoeuvres and blocks. When that failed, she used the proven method of her fingernails to scratch her killer." He mimed the action before pointing above them. "I've sent the scrapings up to Abby, along with a residue I found on her shoulders and the front of her shirt."

"So the killer will have a few marks on them." He stated. He liked it when the victims managed to do Rule#30. Whoever had killed her, he would find them.

(Rule#30 – Give the suspect/s enough rope and allow them to hang themselves. Allow them to dig their own grave. They always slip up; the trick is to find where.) [I may have made this one up.]

"The bruises will have faded by now, unless she did some major damage, but the scratch marks, if they were deep enough and became infected, they should still be visible. Unless they are in places that can be easily covered or were too shallow." Palmer said as he finished up the table and passed them on the way to put the cleaning items away.

"What is it I hear about a mystery woman knowing the suspect?" Ducky asked as he wandered back to his desk to retrieve more papers and put them into a folder.

"I'm not even going to ask how you know about that already. Thanks Duck." He called as he left, waving the folder in the air.

He didn't see the two personnel share a look between them as the doors shut behind him. "Rather easy, since she was down here a couple of hours ago." Ducky said, amusement in his voice. He hoped that the cut knee he had patched up on her son wouldn't get infected. As much as he liked the little lad, he didn't think his equipment could take another game of hide-and-seek.

NCIS:NCIS:NCIS

Gibbs entered the lair of one Abigail Schiuto after a brief stop to collect her favourite beverage. As usual, he did a double take at the volume of the music as it blared from the sound system. He called out to the Goth, but wasn't surprised when she didn't hear him. She was wearing a short dress in what seemed like an early 1900s style that had been modernised into a short skirt that just peeked out from below the level of her lab coat. The dark blue, almost midnight colour of the fabric was stark against her pale skin and white coat. Turning it down as he walked past it earned him a grumble from the woman until she saw the drink.

"Thank you, Gibbs, I was just about to go for a top-up." She said as she took a drink from the straw. "Ahh, better. Now I have kinda good news and bad news. Which do you want first?"

"Vegies before the meat, Abbs."

"Right. So the reason her fingers seemed to be more decomposed than the rest of her is because the killer dipped them in bleach."

"So, the DNA from the skin?"

"Gone, I hate smart killers. Whoever did it figured that it would be impossible to get DNA from destroyed skin. They also poured it on any areas that they had spilled blood, doing the same thing."

"Any way you can get it back?" He looked down a microscope as he spoke. He knew probably not, having worked with her for the better part of almost twenty years, but he liked to see her face and hear what kind of comparison she would come up with.

"Unfortunately not Gibbs. It's like recycled paper. They wash the paper and pulp it until there's nothing left that resembles the original item. There is no way to identify what item the new paper was made from." Her face showed her annoyance at that.

"So, no luck then."

"Didn't I say I had kinda good news?"

"'Kinda'?" He looked over at her from his perusal of the items she was testing from the house. Again, he could make out the smell of decomp.

"Yeah, I'm just not sure how helpful it will be." She went over to her computer and brought up on the big screen a photo of the room. Then she laid out markers to indicate something she had found. Judging by the fact that the markers were all the same, he guessed it was the same thing found around the room.

"On her shoes, the lower part of her top, as well as the kitchen bench and the couch and other areas, I found sugar and cocoa."

"Sugar?"

"Yes, but not raw. It was in the form of icing, specifically fondant given the content. But there's no cake to be found."

"Anything special about the icing?"

"Two things, one, it was chocolate. And two, I tested the content, and its not the cheap kind. It's 98% pure cocoa, and from what I can find, the brand is expensive to import." She handed him a folder containing all she had found so far. "I think you're looking for a cake shop that deals in high end cooking."

"Thanks Abs." He said, giving her a peck on the cheek.

"I'm not quite finished yet Gibbs!" She called out just as he left the room.

He paused and backtracked until he was standing beside her again, looking at the computer in front of her. "What else?"

"The residue Ducky found on the shoulders of her blouse? It's engine oil. And the engine has a leak. There're traces of diesel in it. The oil is a heavy duty kind used for big pickups and light weight trucks." She handed him a file that he suspected contained the make-up of the oil, the brands and likely makes of vehicles that used it.

"You done?" he looked at her, eyebrows raised.

"Yep." She hummed when he gave her another peck on the cheek and left before she could call him back again.

NCIS:NCIS:NCIS

His next stop, was Vance's office. Remembering at the last second about the kid, he asked the secretary to ask him to come outside. He enjoyed the look of shock on her face, as he usually just barged straight in. He went over to the railing that sat above the bullpen and leaned against it, waiting. He was joined a moment later by his boss.

"Gibbs. What can I do for you?"

"Brooks recognised the man we arrested this morning for the murder at Pax. According to her, he's been overseas for the last several months and couldn't have done it. Ducky says TOD is tricky to narrow down, so it could have been shortly before or after he left."

"Have you spoken with the suspect? With Brooks?"

"No, I've just come from Ducky and Abby. She also then asked to be on the team to investigate this. She mentioned that Sanders' CO knew he was away, but I suspect there is more she didn't tell me." He looked over at the other man, trying to make out what he saw in the face of the coffee coloured man.

"She's in charge of a taskforce from Interpol. She hasn't given me any details, but I suspect she will tell you what you want to know, although she will likely hold back anything that deals directly with it."

Gibbs nodded in understanding. So long as she answered what she could, he would be happy. "The boy?" He tipped his head back in the direction of the office.

"She told me. Other than us, I don't think anyone else knows about Renko. Her boss at Interpol, Simon Krouse and I go way back. He's away at the moment, so he can't look after him."

"He's staying with you?" He was surprised.

"Krouse mentioned some of her childhood, and how hard it is for her to trust others. It took me several days of convincing and letting her get to know my kids and the nanny before she felt comfortable enough to leave him in my care. He didn't want her to leave him behind today. She only got back from an operation in LA late yesterday afternoon. She was in the hospital for a couple of days when it finished. It's shaken them both up.

Give her access to what she wants. If this affects the operation she has going on at the moment, she may have to change things. And let her join you. She doesn't have many good experiences with teams, but my understanding is that she is comfortable with the Los Angeles team now. Maybe she might learn to trust yours too."

Gibbs spent another few minutes getting him up to date about what he knew so far before heading across to the conference room.

* * *

 _A/N: So, thoughts?_


	3. Getting Involved

A/N: So, yeah. Sorry about the massive delay. Dealing with family not fun. I lost my Grandmother in August and then my Mum came home after looking after her for over a year. My Dad's not well, cancer, so I've been doing what I can to help in the property. On top of that, new job.

Anyway, onto the story. THIS ONE IS FINISHED! I'll try to update it weekly. Having now watched the season after Tony leaves, I guess you could call this an AU, as he's no longer in the country.

Part three, if you haven't already guessed, will be set in New Orleans. Not sure when I'll be putting it up. I have a chunk written, but not quite sure how to finish it.

ENJOY!

* * *

 **Getting Involved**

* * *

It was an hour later that Gibbs entered the room. "Care to tell me why it is that Director Vance has given you permission to join my team and all but ordered me to give you access to everything?" He didn't want her to know that he could see the benefit of having her trust the NCIS teams. If something were to happen, she would have a few people she could turn to if she needed.

He could see that Brooks could tell that that he was losing his patience with her. "Only a handful of people know the full details of the case I'm handling. I'm in charge of a taskforce that was set up years ago. I can't tell you anymore then that because the case is still ongoing, only that it spans a half dozen countries. I approached your SecNav because I needed certain people, and one of those is Lt Sanders. He, like the others on their way here, all play a key part in the taskforce. One of those parts is his ability to keep vehicles moving. The mission they were a part of in Dubai only finished a few days ago. I need to make sure that he wasn't targeted to try and gain access to information about the taskforce."

"So…?"

"Other than a handful of days, all of which were spent in the company of others in the unit, he hasn't been in the country for the past three months."

"You yourself can confirm that?" Gibbs asked, taking notes. He remembered that Ducky said that the TOD could have been two months ago, given the average temperatures.

"Not the last six weeks, I've been in Los Angeles for the past couple of weeks and before that, Canada for a month. Another case I'm working on brought me back; it's just wrapped up in LA. Hetty Lang can confirm it, if you wish." Brooks leaned back in her chair.

Gibbs asked questions over the following hour; and while he got some answers about the Lt's personality and how he got along with the others in the taskforce, he got the sense that she was holding back. About what, he couldn't tell. He also found out that not many people knew he was gay. The DADT policy may not have been enforced anymore, but there were still people who were against such people in the military. Sanders currently didn't have a boyfriend either, so there was no one to vouch for the other occupant in the house.

"How many in the taskforce?"

"Actively involved with it? Including Sanders, four, with another two as IT over earwigs. One is in London. The other is …" she paused a moment as she realised something, "The other is at Pax." She didn't continue, just sent another text message.

"Why did you get US military involved?" Gibbs asked, "Why not use your own personnel from the task force or from within Interpol?"

"The fewer people who know, the less chance for leaks. And, the only person I trust at Interpol is the director, Krouse. As for the men coming, I picked them at random, after coming across them on the street. I felt that if they were military, and not part of the same unit, if they came across something that didn't add up about the others, they would be more inclined to inform me."

"The man in London, he military?"

"Langdon? No, he's someone at MI6 that owes me a few favours. He simply acts as a relay in case something happens to the transmissions. I can get him on teleconference if you need."

"He interact with the others?"

"No, only over the earwigs and phone."

"His contact details will do for now." Gibbs handed over his notebook for her write the contact details down. After taking it back and looking at it, he took a moment to collect everything, nodding to DiNozzo to do the same. "I'm going to interview Sanders now, you can watch from the observation room." He said as he stood.

"Fair enough. Do you have an ID on her yet?" She asked as she followed the agents.

"No, anything you can tell me about the cousin?"

"Never met her. Sanders talked about her a lot. They were close, more like siblings than cousins." She didn't give any more information, only talking to DiNozzo about what he had been up to since they had last seen one another. Gibbs tuned them out, focusing on what he wanted to ask the LT.

Gibbs introduced himself and DiNozzo as they took their seats. "I've been speaking with your team leader. She tells me that you've been out of the country, but that she hasn't been with the team for the last few weeks. Can the others on the team confirm your whereabouts?"

"What's going on? I get out of a cab and your agents grabbed me. They didn't even tell me who I was supposed to have murdered."

"Is there anyone else that lives with you?" DiNozzo asked gently.

"My cousin, Amara. She, broke up with my CO, Sines. He was starting to get abusive and possessive. She didn't have anywhere else to go, loved her job at the vet clinic nearby and didn't want to leave the area. I offered her a room at my place until she could find a place of her own." He paused, and Gibbs saw a look of horror appear on his features. "Oh, God, no! Please no." He looked from one agent to the other, but he broke down in tears as Gibbs slid a photo across the table of his living room.

"We haven't been able to ID her yet, but things are starting to point to it being your cousin. I'm sorry." Gibbs said as the man started crying in great racking sobs. Just on the display and what he had learnt from Brooks, he was inclined to believe that the man had nothing to do with the murder.

"One last thing, could you take off your shirt?"

"What?"

"She fought, hard. Managed to scratch whoever it was."

A smile briefly crossed his face. "I taught her to fight, made sure she was able to look after herself when I wasn't around." His face turned downcast again. "Fat lot of good that did her." His voice broke as he lifted his shirt and turned around to show Gibbs his back.

Nothing showed other than scars that were years old and looked to be bullet grazes and at least one knife wound. No trace of fingernail scratches could be seen on his face, chest, back or arms.

"She fought enough that with the scratches and other things she left for us to find, we'll find out who did this."

"I'd start with Sines then Sir. I don't think he knew she was my cousin." He sank back into the chair, heartbroken and with nothing left to keep him upright, he slumped over onto the table.

Gathering things from the table, they left the room, and allowed Brooks in to comfort the man. They headed back to the bullpen, DiNozzo looking through flight records to find the flight he had been on as soon as he sat down.

"Bishop, I want you to look for all the shops that buy or import this brand of chocolate." Gibbs wrote down the brand that Abby had identified and handed it to the food-aholic. If anyone would be able to find it, it would be her.

"Sure, Gibbs. Reason?" She took the paper and started googling.

"Abby found residue on the woman's clothes and in the house that had been spread by the fight. Concentrate on high end bakeries and caterers." He then turned toward the other member of the team.

"McGee, see if you can find a vehicle match to this list Abby gave me. Start with the ones registered to the base. Abbs found engine oil on the victims clothes." He dropped the file Abby had given him onto his current 2IC's desk. "But first, tell me what you've found on Sanders." He retook his own seat and looked toward McGee who had finished putting the file in a place he could reach it quickly before standing and getting the clicker off DiNozzo's desk. Hitting the button, he brought up the man's records.

"I've been looking over the Lt's record. It's clean, not so much as a parking ticket. The last few months he's been on loan to Brooks, but the Base CO, Colonel Miguel Jose, doesn't know who she works for. He got authorisation to release him to her unit by SECNAV herself. He's been part of a specialised unit for the last several years. Going away for a few months a year. He and the others from the unit have often been called from wherever they've been posted for it. I've managed to speak to a couple of their COs, but none can tell me anything. I've also placed another call to the SECNAV, but I've not heard back from her yet."

"Any way to know who else is on the team from Pax?" Thinking about the scuttlebutt that often ran rampant when it came to missions that were meant to remain secret.

"No, he's been ordered by SECNAV herself to remain quiet about it. No one seems to know who else is involved. Whoever it is, they've managed to mix it in with their normal work." He placed the folder on his boss' desk then headed back to his desk to look into the vehicles that were registered on the base. Gibbs himself started to look into Sines.

The rest of the day passed in a similar fashion with the team looking into each of the taskforce members. None of their CO's knew what they were doing, only that their respective Secretary of's had contacted them and told them to assign the requested personnel to it.

During questioning of Brooks about Sanders they had found that Sines had been bypassed because Brooks had spoken to Sanders and Pikes and they had told her not to go through him because of his personality. She had looked into him and found the same thing. There was something else, but she was remaining closed lipped about it.

Bishop had come across over two dozen places that not only sold the chocolate, but also used it in their cooking. Without something else to be able to narrow it down, they would have to resort to asking for each place to send through a list of receipts and names of people that had placed orders. It was going to take a while to go through them, even more so as they had no accurate timeframe. The day ended with them going through a list of bakeries and orders to try and find something that fit the time.


End file.
